List of Famous people born in Somalia

Iman is a Somali fashion model, actress and entrepreneur. A former muse of designers Gianni Versace, Halston, Calvin Klein, Donna Karan and Yves Saint Laurent, she is also noted for her philanthropic work. She is the widow of English rock musician David Bowie, whom she married in 1992.

Ilhan Abdullahi Omar is an American politician serving as the U.S. Representative for Minnesota's 5th congressional district since 2019. She is a member of the Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party. Before her election to Congress, Omar served in the Minnesota House of Representatives from 2017 to 2019, representing part of Minneapolis. Her congressional district includes all of Minneapolis and some of its suburbs.

Sir Mohamed Muktar Jama Farah is a British long-distance runner and the most successful British track athlete in modern Olympic Games history. He is the 2012 and 2016 Olympic gold medalist in both the 5000 m and 10,000 m. Farah is the second athlete in modern Olympic Games history, after Lasse Virén, to win both the 5000 m and 10,000 m titles at successive Olympic Games. He also completed the 'distance double' at the 2013 and 2015 World Championships in Athletics. He was the second man in history, after Kenenisa Bekele, to win long-distance doubles at successive Olympics and World Championships, and the first in history to defend both distance titles in both major global competitions – a feat described as the 'quadruple-double'. Since finishing 2nd in the 10,000 metres at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics, Farah had an unbroken streak of ten global final wins. The streak ended in Farah's final championship track race, when he finished second to Ethiopia's Muktar Edris in the 2017 5000 metres final. In his final track race, the 2017 Diamond League Final in Zurich in August 2017, Farah gained his revenge, edging out world champion Edris to win his only IAAF Diamond League title at 5000 metres.

Waris Dirie is a Somali model, author, actress and human rights activist in the fight against Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). From 1997 to 2003, she was a UN special ambassador against female genital mutilation. In 2002 she founded her own organisation in Vienna, the Desert Flower Foundation.

Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, also known as Farmaajo is a Somali politician who has served as the President of Somalia since 16 February 2017. At the time of his election, Farmaajo formerly held U.S. citizenship, which he renounced voluntarily in 2019. He was Prime Minister of Somalia for six months, from November 2010 until June 2011 and is the founder and chairman of the Tayo political party. He became the President of Somalia after winning the 2017 Somali presidential election with 184 out of the total 329 votes by members of the Somali Parliament, thereby defeating former president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali is a Somali-born Dutch-American activist, feminist, author, scholar and former politician. She received international attention as a critic of Islam and advocate for the rights and self-determination of Muslim women, actively opposing forced marriage, honor violence, child marriage and female genital mutilation. She has founded an organisation for the defense of women's rights, the AHA Foundation. Ayaan Hirsi Ali works for the Hoover Institution and the American Enterprise Institute.

Abdi Nageeye is a long-distance runner from the Netherlands who won silver in the 2020 Olympics marathon.

Barkhad Abdi is a Somali–American actor and director. He made his acting debut alongside Tom Hanks in the Paul Greengrass film Captain Phillips (2013), for which he received great critical acclaim as well as a British Academy Film Award win for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. He also received Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations. Abdi's other film roles include Gavin Hood's Eye in the Sky (2015), the Safdie Brothers' Good Time, and Denis Villeneuve's Blade Runner 2049. He is also known for his roles in television including his main role on the Hulu series Castle Rock.

Ahmed Hussen is a Canadian lawyer and politician. He was national president of the Canadian Somali Congress. As of October 2015, Hussen is a member of Parliament (MP) representing the riding of York South—Weston as a member of the Liberal Party of Canada. He is also the first Somali-Canadian to be elected to the House of Commons and the first to hold a federal cabinet position.

Mohammed Ahmed is a Canadian long-distance runner. Ahmed won the silver medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in the 5000m. Ahmed won the bronze medal in the 5000m at the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha, the first Canadian to medal in the event, and is a two-time silver medallist at the Commonwealth Games in the 5000m and 10,000m events. Ahmed competed at 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics. He holds the eleventh fastest 5000m time in history.

Bashir Abdi is a Somali-born Belgian athlete who specializes in long-distance running. He won the bronze medal in the marathon at the 2020 Summer Olympics. He was also the silver medalist at the 2018 European Athletics Championships in the 10,000 metres event.

Alexander, Count of Schönburg-Glauchau, known professionally as Alexander von Schönburg, is a German journalist and writer. He is after his older brother’s Carl abdication, the current head of the comital branch of the princely House of Schönburg.

Mukhtar Abdullahi Ali is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Al-Nassr and the Saudi Arabia national football team. He was born in Jeddah and moved to London as an infant.

Ali Mahdi Muhammad is a Somali entrepreneur and politician. He served as President of Somalia from January 26, 1991 to January 3, 1997. The Cairo Agreement in December 1997 designated Ali Mahdi as president once again, a position he held until being succeeded by Abdiqasim Salad in the year 2000.

Nuruddin Farah is a Somali novelist. His first novel, From a Crooked Rib, was published in 1970 and has been described as "one of the cornerstones of modern East African literature today". He has also written plays both for stage and radio, as well as short stories and essays. Since leaving Somalia in the 1970s he has lived and taught in numerous countries, including the United States, Britain, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Sudan, India, Uganda, Nigeria and South Africa.

Hassan Ali Khaire, popularly known as Hassan Khaire, is a Somali activist and politician and is the former Prime Minister of Somalia. He was appointed on 23 February 2017 by Somalia President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed "Farmaajo" and resigned on Saturday July 25th 2020 after MPs passed a disputed vote of no confidence.

Abdiqasim Salad Hassan or Abdiqasim Salad is a Somali politician. He helped found the Transitional National Government which he served as President of Somalia from 2000 to 2004, and previously served as Interior Minister and Finance Minister in the government of Mohamed Siad Barre.

Hassan Sheikh Mohamud is a Somali politician. He is the founder and current chairman of a large political aggregation party which have majority of parliament in both chambers Union for Peace and Development Party, He was the 8th President of Somalia from 16 September 2012 until 16 February 2017. A civil and political activist, Mohamud was previously a university professor and dean. In April 2013, Mohamud was named to the Time 100, TIME magazine's annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. His efforts at advancing national reconciliation, anti-corruption measures, and socio-economic and security sector reforms in Somalia were cited as reasons for the selection.

Zamzam Mohamed Farah is a Somali female athlete from Mogadishu who competes in the Women's 400m. She was one of only two Somali athletes at the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Sharif Sheikh Ahmed known as The Father of Modern Somalia because of his achievements during his service as president between 2009 and 2012. He is the founder and leader of Himilo Qaran political party and also the founder and head of the Forum for National Parties of Somalia.